Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante set for DREAM.9 in May

A lightweight bout between Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (14-2-1), which will likely earn the winner a future title shot, has been booked for DREAM.9.

The event takes place May 26 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. The show airs in North America on HDNet.

The Kawajiri vs. Cavalcante bout will serve as the night’s main event.

The winner of the fight will likely face the winner of a bout between DREAM lightweight champ Joachim Hansen and Shinya Aoki that’s expected to take place at DREAM.10 in August.

Kawajiri, who was eliminated from the 2008 DREAM lightweight grand prix with a July TKO loss to Eddie Alvarez, enters the bout with four wins in his past five fights. The 30-year-old Japanese fighter last competed in March at DREAM.7, where he defeated Ross Ebanez with a first-round submission via rear-naked choke.

Cavalcante, meanwhile, enters the bout looking to shake off the sting of a loss to Aoki at DREAM.2. Since bitten by the injury bug, Cavalcante was 12-0-1 (with no-contest) in his previous 14 fights before the unanimous-decision loss. The 25-year-old Brazilian will enter the ring for the first time in 13 months when he meets Kawajiri.

For the latest on DREAM.9, which also includes the second round of DREAM’s welterweight grand prix and a middleweight title fight between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, check out the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.